I, Avneesh Kumar, hereby declare that this essay is my original work, which is free from any type of plagiarism. The essay has neither not been published anywhere else nor submitted for consideration at any other place. If any fact has been taken in the essay from any other work it has been duly acknowledged in the form of footnotes. With this I request you to consider my entry for the Essay Competition. Thanking You. Yours Sincerely Avneesh Kumar, 1st Year, LLM, South Asian University, New Delhi

Security Council Resolutions and Violation of Human Rights: Bringing Accountability to Security Council

Abstract

From the time Security Council has developed the targeted sanctions regime, its resolutions have started to affect individuals indirectly. Under the resolutions of Security Council many individuals have been subjected to different forms of human rights violations. It has been alleged that the sanctions committees work under political pressure and their decisions are not impartial or independent. No institution can claim itself above rules of law, and the same is true about Security Council also. Whenever Security Council is passing a resolution it has to abide by the other provisions of the UN Charter and those norms of international law which have gained the status of peremptory norms. There seems to be no mechanism to review the resolutions of the Security Council presently, therefore it is needed that ICJ must be conferred some powers of such a review although on limited grounds. The Security Council is also required to bring changes in its internal mechanism, and it must create a more transparent and impartial system for listing and delisting of individuals. Finally I propose that Security Council is required to create a long terms policy to make its sanctions regime human rights friendly, which must include components like establishment of impartial institutions for listing and delisting, bringing transparency in the working of sanctions committee, active collaboration among different actors at national, regional and international level and detailed procedures to guide the discretion of different authorities involved in listing and delisting process.